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beyond me) . Typing was the real disaster. I had
never worked with an electric machine before and
"two minutes for practice, Miss " was absurd.
My fingers were all over the board at once.
While waiting for the tests to be scored I managed to smooth out my nerves enough to look around
the room; aqua wall-to-wall carpeting» plastic furniture and fashion magazines. The two women who
were in charge of interviewing applicants and ail
the paper work were nice -- Miss America smile-type
nice. The middle-aged man in the grey suit who hovered in the background and officiously hounded in
and out of the office from time to time was probably a large force in pushing that sickenly sweet impression.
Two other women were in various stages of the
two hour registering-testing process--a young black
womans maybe 18,, and an older woman in her fifties.
The older woman was so nervous she made me feel like Oaklander too, I'm sure.)
no worry about taxes to iigure out (temporary does
all that) or insurance or unemployment benefits to
pay.
? And when you're out on an assignment your boss
can fire you on the spot without the least little
explanation. It probably happens to every woman if
she works long enough as a temporary and it happened to
me.
I was sent on a switchboard job to a large real
esta e office--maybe thirty men and one other woman
besides me. Each man had a different area of the surrounding county whose real estate he was responsible
for. There wer hundreds of ca-ls each day from people with vague requests like "I saw this house on Razz-
amatootie Blvd for sale. Who do I talk to?" Since
I had only lived in the area for a short while most
of the streets and towns were unfamiliar to me (and a
lot of those questions would have challenged a native
I was nodding out on downs, I wanted to say something to her but the whole office gave off such a
"keep quiet and to yourself" feeling that I was too
intimidated.
Had I scored high on the typing test, my pleasant representative reported after scoring my test,
I would have been eligible for a very nice salary.
However my handwriting was quite extraordinary, she
remarked optimistically, and I would be perfect addressing wedding invitations or filing or maybe "a
little typing (grin, grin)" Just then I remembered
that I knew how to work a switchboard and tn.at seemed to brighten up my prospects.
"Call back tomorrow, Miss . and hope
fully we511 have a job for you," she said. I remember wondering then just how the whole operation
worked and what they were getting out of it, but
I guess my relief at the first hopeful signs of a
job wiped most of the questions out of my mind.
My first job was a straightforward switchb ard
filling for the regular operator who was on vacation. It lasted two weeks at $2.25 an hour. Not
bad I thought, The next offer wasn't so appealing
but I took it anyway because it was pretty close
to where I lived, It turned out to be pre-Christ-
mas filing in ,a 20' by 40' vault lined from ceiling
I was forced to ask a lot of questions and I made
some mistakes,,. These men were so irate at the idea
that some stupid little switchboard operator was messing up their deals that it wasn't long before they
became really rude. Two and a half days into the job
(I lasted the longest of four women who had tackled
the job) they told me coyly that I wouldn't be needed
in the afternoon and that I should call my employer.
When I did, I found out there had been "countless"
complaints about my performance—and my "attire" to
boot (skirt, shirt and black tights).
I was lucky. The temporary took my side of the
dispute and payed me (technically they don't have to
if you're fired) because they Were angry themselves
at this real estate business. But I could easily imagine another situation where my side of the story
wouldn't have been worth two cents.
Well, it took me awhile, but î finally got more
together about the whole temporary racket. There are^
seme tip- to keep in mind that should help you get on
top of the situation from the beginning. First it
lps to know what you're getting into. Demand (in as
friendly and innocent a say as possible) a full explanation of their rate system and whatever benefits you're
entitled to the first time you walk into the office.
It seems to vary some from agency to agency so it might
to floor with billing folders. Five other women did be worth it to check them all out by phone first if
the same thing I was doing, I was making $1.80 an
hour (filing is very low on the skills list) by my
co-workers were making $5.
That was when it finally hit home how much I
was getting ripped off. I went home on Friday with
a measly fifty-some-odd dollars after taxes and my
benevolent temporary agency was räking in over $1
for every hour I put in. And the most f ru. trating
thing of all was that there were no alternatives—
it was either stick with them or pound the sidewalks
again.
you can. Inquire especially about unemployment benefit
because they slide right out of that commitment as much
as possible,
Often there are problems with refusing a job,
One friend of mine told an agency she had other plans
when they called up obviously desperate to fill a
job they had agreed to fill but evidently had forgotten about. She was told in no uncertain terms
that if she didn'-t take the job she shouldn't bother
to call up asking for one some other time. Don't be
intimidated by the threat and remind them of their
From the very first it was easy to tell that theown "Work ^^ You Want" advertising,
individual companies you work for don't eare one way if you feel as though you're getting abnormally
or the other who they're paying as long as the work
gets done__.y The temporary agency offers them "hand-
picked" skilled women to work anytime they are
running behind schedule or need an emeigency replacement. That way they don't have to go through
the time consuming hiring procedures. And there are but made sure before" she even picked up a pen that
other advantages for the companies too, there's c,hç .would, get paid at the typing rate even the ugh
Page 9 LIBERATION News Service " (#466) September 16, 1972 more
abused on the job (too much work, a boss on the make,
etc.) call the agency immediately. One woman I talked to was once sent out on a job expecting to type,
and when she got there found that she was going to
be addressing envelopes. She agreed to do the job

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

GI Press Project/Private Collection; The International Institute of Social History Library Collections: Gift of John Mage; The International Institute of Social History Library Collections; Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Serials and Press Release Soldiers Movements, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

GI Press Project/Private Collection; The International Institute of Social History Library Collections: Gift of John Mage; The International Institute of Social History Library Collections; Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Serials and Press Release Soldiers Movements, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam

Full text

beyond me) . Typing was the real disaster. I had
never worked with an electric machine before and
"two minutes for practice, Miss " was absurd.
My fingers were all over the board at once.
While waiting for the tests to be scored I managed to smooth out my nerves enough to look around
the room; aqua wall-to-wall carpeting» plastic furniture and fashion magazines. The two women who
were in charge of interviewing applicants and ail
the paper work were nice -- Miss America smile-type
nice. The middle-aged man in the grey suit who hovered in the background and officiously hounded in
and out of the office from time to time was probably a large force in pushing that sickenly sweet impression.
Two other women were in various stages of the
two hour registering-testing process--a young black
womans maybe 18,, and an older woman in her fifties.
The older woman was so nervous she made me feel like Oaklander too, I'm sure.)
no worry about taxes to iigure out (temporary does
all that) or insurance or unemployment benefits to
pay.
? And when you're out on an assignment your boss
can fire you on the spot without the least little
explanation. It probably happens to every woman if
she works long enough as a temporary and it happened to
me.
I was sent on a switchboard job to a large real
esta e office--maybe thirty men and one other woman
besides me. Each man had a different area of the surrounding county whose real estate he was responsible
for. There wer hundreds of ca-ls each day from people with vague requests like "I saw this house on Razz-
amatootie Blvd for sale. Who do I talk to?" Since
I had only lived in the area for a short while most
of the streets and towns were unfamiliar to me (and a
lot of those questions would have challenged a native
I was nodding out on downs, I wanted to say something to her but the whole office gave off such a
"keep quiet and to yourself" feeling that I was too
intimidated.
Had I scored high on the typing test, my pleasant representative reported after scoring my test,
I would have been eligible for a very nice salary.
However my handwriting was quite extraordinary, she
remarked optimistically, and I would be perfect addressing wedding invitations or filing or maybe "a
little typing (grin, grin)" Just then I remembered
that I knew how to work a switchboard and tn.at seemed to brighten up my prospects.
"Call back tomorrow, Miss . and hope
fully we511 have a job for you" she said. I remember wondering then just how the whole operation
worked and what they were getting out of it, but
I guess my relief at the first hopeful signs of a
job wiped most of the questions out of my mind.
My first job was a straightforward switchb ard
filling for the regular operator who was on vacation. It lasted two weeks at $2.25 an hour. Not
bad I thought, The next offer wasn't so appealing
but I took it anyway because it was pretty close
to where I lived, It turned out to be pre-Christ-
mas filing in ,a 20' by 40' vault lined from ceiling
I was forced to ask a lot of questions and I made
some mistakes,,. These men were so irate at the idea
that some stupid little switchboard operator was messing up their deals that it wasn't long before they
became really rude. Two and a half days into the job
(I lasted the longest of four women who had tackled
the job) they told me coyly that I wouldn't be needed
in the afternoon and that I should call my employer.
When I did, I found out there had been "countless"
complaints about my performance—and my "attire" to
boot (skirt, shirt and black tights).
I was lucky. The temporary took my side of the
dispute and payed me (technically they don't have to
if you're fired) because they Were angry themselves
at this real estate business. But I could easily imagine another situation where my side of the story
wouldn't have been worth two cents.
Well, it took me awhile, but î finally got more
together about the whole temporary racket. There are^
seme tip- to keep in mind that should help you get on
top of the situation from the beginning. First it
lps to know what you're getting into. Demand (in as
friendly and innocent a say as possible) a full explanation of their rate system and whatever benefits you're
entitled to the first time you walk into the office.
It seems to vary some from agency to agency so it might
to floor with billing folders. Five other women did be worth it to check them all out by phone first if
the same thing I was doing, I was making $1.80 an
hour (filing is very low on the skills list) by my
co-workers were making $5.
That was when it finally hit home how much I
was getting ripped off. I went home on Friday with
a measly fifty-some-odd dollars after taxes and my
benevolent temporary agency was räking in over $1
for every hour I put in. And the most f ru. trating
thing of all was that there were no alternatives—
it was either stick with them or pound the sidewalks
again.
you can. Inquire especially about unemployment benefit
because they slide right out of that commitment as much
as possible,
Often there are problems with refusing a job,
One friend of mine told an agency she had other plans
when they called up obviously desperate to fill a
job they had agreed to fill but evidently had forgotten about. She was told in no uncertain terms
that if she didn'-t take the job she shouldn't bother
to call up asking for one some other time. Don't be
intimidated by the threat and remind them of their
From the very first it was easy to tell that theown "Work ^^ You Want" advertising,
individual companies you work for don't eare one way if you feel as though you're getting abnormally
or the other who they're paying as long as the work
gets done__.y The temporary agency offers them "hand-
picked" skilled women to work anytime they are
running behind schedule or need an emeigency replacement. That way they don't have to go through
the time consuming hiring procedures. And there are but made sure before" she even picked up a pen that
other advantages for the companies too, there's c,hç .would, get paid at the typing rate even the ugh
Page 9 LIBERATION News Service " (#466) September 16, 1972 more
abused on the job (too much work, a boss on the make,
etc.) call the agency immediately. One woman I talked to was once sent out on a job expecting to type,
and when she got there found that she was going to
be addressing envelopes. She agreed to do the job